Mark pushed the apartment door open and stepped inside with Jessica right behind him. The trip from Westchester County had only been a few hours, but the day itself had felt long in the way that came with new threats, and the growing sense that things were moving faster than he had previously expected. Still, he felt good about it. He had answers now, names, faces, a clearer picture of what he was dealing with, and most importantly a direction. If he moved carefully, he could start tracking each member of the Brotherhood one by one until he finally reached the top.
Jessica did not share that mood.
She walked straight past him without saying a word and headed toward the liquor cabinet, pulling it open and scanning the shelves like a woman on a mission.
Mark dropped his keys onto the counter and leaned back slightly as he watched her. "What's up with you?" he asked. "Is this because I had to carry you again?"
Jessica didn't even turn around. She just lifted her hand and gave him the middle finger while continuing to look for a bottle.
Mark snorted.
Jessica grabbed a bottle of whiskey and turned toward him with an annoyed look that had been building since they left the mansion. "Today was annoying," she said. "You getting mobbed by kids, the whole tour thing, that man-dog sniffing both of us like we were made of coke, that kid almost drowning, and me getting grabbed like I was breaking into Fort Knox. Yeah, real fun day."
"It wasn't that bad," Mark replied as he walked toward the kitchen and opened the fridge. He grabbed a soda and twisted the cap off before taking a sip.
Jessica leaned against the counter and shook her head. "Oh please, of course you'd enjoy it," she said. "You were loving every second of it."
She shifted into a girly voice and clasped her hands under her chin. "Invincible, can you sign my notebook? Invincible, can you take a selfie with me? Invincible, can you sign my forehead? Invincible, can you sign my shirt? Invincible, can you sign my tits?"
Mark laughed and shrugged. "What can I say? I've got fans."
Jessica narrowed her eyes at the smug smile spreading across his face and shoved him lightly in the shoulder.
Mark laughed harder.
Jessica rolled her eyes and took a drink straight from the bottle. "I'm getting drunk tonight," she announced. "And I'm doing it here."
Mark lifted his soda and took another sip before responding. "I've got work to do. I need to go through that info we got. Cross reference it. Start seeing if I can track these mutants—"
Jessica moved fast.
Before Mark could react, she reached into his pocket, pulled out the memory stick Charles had given him, and slipped it into her bra. Then she gave him a small smirk. "You can get this back when I pass out," she said.
Mark stared at her for a second, then sighed before laughing. "Fine," he said. "But we both know it'll take a shit ton for you to pass out."
Jessica lifted the bottle again. "Good thing you're rich."
Mark rolled his eyes before giving her a thoughtful expression. "Give me a minute." He walked past her and headed toward the window. Jessica watched him with mild curiosity as he slid it open and stepped onto the ledge without explanation. Before she could ask what he was doing, a rainbow-like energy flared around him and then he vanished.
Jessica blinked.
She walked toward the window slowly and leaned out, looking down, then up, then back into the apartment. "What the hell," she muttered. "Where the fuck did he go?"
Five minutes passed.
Jessica had just poured herself a drink when the same flash appeared in the room near the window. Mark stepped back inside carrying two wooden barrels, one balanced on each shoulder as if they weighed nothing.
Jessica froze mid sip.
She stared at him.
Then she lowered the glass slowly. "Okay," she said. "What the hell just happened?"
Mark set the barrels down near the kitchen counter with a solid thud and shrugged. "Oh. I can teleport, didn't you know that?"
Jessica blinked again.
She stared at him with a completely blank expression. "Oh," she repeated. "You can teleport. That's all I'm getting."
Mark opened one of the barrels and looked back at her. "It's complicated science stuff," he said. "I could explain it if you want, but you'd need to be stone cold sober for that conversation."
Jessica waved a hand dismissively. "Yeah, that's not happening. What do you have in your hands?"
Mark grinned. "Asgardian mead."
Jessica's eyebrows rose.
"The real stuff," Mark added. "When I had it there, it knocked me flat on my back."
Jessica's grin spread slowly across her face as she set her glass down and walked toward the barrels. "Well," she said, "let's start this party."
Mark tapped the first barrel, and a rich amber liquid sloshing inside as he grabbed two mugs from the cabinet and filled them to the brim. The mead smelled like honey and jet engine fuel, a sweet, potent aroma that hit Jessica like a truck.
Jessica downed her first drink in one long pull, the mead burning a sweet trail down her throat and exploding into warmth that spread through her chest like wildfire. She slammed the empty mug on the counter hard enough to make it rattle and let out a whoop that echoed off the apartment walls. "This is the best stuff I have ever had!" she shouted, her voice cracking with pure delight as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Holy shit, Mark, it tastes like honey and pure fucking lightning."
Mark chuckled and took a slower sip from his own mug, the rich flavor hitting him just as hard, the buzz already starting to loosen the edges of the long day. "Told you, this stuff was made to get gods drunk," he said, grinning as he watched her eyes go wide with the rush.
Jessica did not wait. She grabbed the mug again, tilted the barrel, and refilled it to the brim, the amber liquid sloshing over the rim and dripping onto the counter. She took another quick gulp before setting the mug down and fixing Mark with a determined stare. "I have had enough of your weird life for one day," she declared, pointing at him with the mug still in her hand. "Mutant schools, sniffing man dogs, kids who can sink boats with their minds. We are both getting monumentally pissed tonight and forgetting all of it."
Mark chuckled again, raising his cup in a lazy toast. "I will drink to that," he said, clinking his mug against hers. The sound rang out sharp and bright in the quiet apartment. He took a long swallow, feeling the mead settle heavy and warm in his stomach. "Should we invite Luke and Trish over? Make it a proper night?"
Jessica waved him off while she kept drinking, the mug never leaving her lips for more than a second. "For a guy who owns a bar Luke is a serious buzzkill when it comes to drinking," she said between swallows. "He starts lecturing about responsible consumption and It kinda makes me want to punch him in the face. And Trish is out of town right now anyway, some photo shoot in LA or wherever celebrities go."
Mark chuckled once more and took another drink from his own mug, the warmth spreading faster now, loosening his shoulders and making the lights in the apartment seem a little brighter around the edges.
They moved to the couch after that, the two barrels parked between them like trophies. Mark flicked on the TV and found some old cop show rerun, the kind with dramatic music and detectives yelling at suspects.
They made up a drinking game on the spot. Every time someone said "evidence," they drank. Every time a car chase started, they drank. Every time the captain slammed a file on the desk and yelled "you are off the case," they both took a double. It got them both tipsy pretty fast.
By the third chase scene Jessica was leaning heavy against Mark's side, her head on his shoulder as she pointed at the screen. "Look at that idiot," she slurred, giggling. "He is going to crash into the fruit stand. They always crash into the fruit stand." She took another drink and nearly spilled it down her shirt.
Mark laughed and downed his own, the room tilting just a little when he set the mug down. "You are right," he said, his words starting to blur at the edges. "Never own a fruit stand... your life will always suck."
The game devolved after that. They switched to beer pong on the coffee table using crumpled paper balls and empty mugs, both of them ridiculously good at it because of their powers. Jessica's aim was pinpoint even half drunk, her strength letting her flick the balls like bullets.
Jessica stood up suddenly, swaying but grinning. "This is too easy," she said, her voice thick with the mead. "Make it more interesting. Fly us to the roof."
Mark did not argue. He scooped her up in his arms, the world blurring for a second as he launched them straight up through the open window and onto the rooftop in one smooth motion. They set up a new game right there, dragging a metal bucket from the maintenance shed and flying it over to the roof of the building across the street, maybe a hundred metres away. They took turns throwing balls from their rooftop, trying to sink them into the distant bucket.
They had fun. A lot of fun. The throws got wilder as the mead kept flowing from the barrel, they even tried doing trickshots. Jessica whooped every time she made a shot, pumping her fist and nearly falling off the ledge. Mark laughed so hard his sides hurt, the alcohol making his flight a little wobbly when he flew over to retrieve missed balls. They talked about everything and nothing, the conversation loose and easy the way it only got when they were both this far gone. How the city looked prettier from up here, how Jessica hated the way her powers made her feel like a wrecking ball sometimes, how Mark still did not know what to do about all the women in his life.
The talk drifted to Mark's powers eventually, the mead making him more open than usual. He floated a few feet off the roof, arms spread like he was showing off. "Flying is the best part," he said, his words slurring just a touch. "It's kinda like peeing yourself... but on purpose."
Jessica watched him with glassy eyes, finishing another mug and wiping her mouth. She started to slur as she talked, leaning forward on the ledge. "I am pretty sure I can fly too," she said, nodding to herself like it made perfect sense. "I mean, I can jump really far and I am strong as hell. It is basically the same thing, right? Just... upward."
Mark did not believe her for a second. He laughed and gave her a smug smile, the mead making him cocky. "Only I can fly," he declared, doing a lazy loop in the air that turned into a small flail when he overcorrected. He caught himself and grinned down at her. "You are stuck on the ground, Jones. Face it."
Jessica insisted the stubborn girl that she was. "Watch," she said, finishing her drink in one gulp and tossing the mug aside. She stumbled slightly as she walked to the edge of the roof, the city lights reflecting in her eyes. She climbed up onto the parapet, standing with her arms out for balance.
Mark laughed and cheered for her, pumping his fist from where he hovered a few feet away. "You got this, Jess! Show me how it is done! Fly like the wind!"
She gave him a wide smile and did a little bow that made her wobble dangerously close to the edge. Mark's heart skipped but she caught herself, straightened up, and prepared herself, knees bent like she was about to launch. She jumped up hard, arms flapping once, twice, trying to will herself into the air.
She just hit the ground again her boots slamming back onto the concrete with a thud. She tried different poses next, spreading her arms like a plane, then tucking them in like a superhero, then jumping with one leg kicked out. Nothing worked. Each attempt ended with her landing right back where she started.
Mark laughed harder, clutching his stomach as he floated closer. "Hahahahahaha wait wait! Let me get the camera!"
Jessica insisted she could, her voice rising with frustration and mead. "I can do it, damn it!" She took one last running jump, pushing off the edge with everything she had.
She fell off the building.
(AN: So Jessica and Mark want to party I wonder what it'll lead to. Hope you enjoyed.)
Support for more.
Patreon.com/captainalfie78works